


Flirting With Darkness

by crylorenaissance



Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: F/M, I'm making some stuff up as I go, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Trying to kill Stephen Strange multiple times and in creative ways, prophecies via nightmares and dreams, this OC is very sad and has a lot to work through
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-12 18:44:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15346179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crylorenaissance/pseuds/crylorenaissance
Summary: Being a master of the mystic arts presents itself with temptation. And when the love of your life is tempted by darkness, sometimes you follow out of blind trust. But even then, things can go wrong and you need to step back from who or what you once loved.(I formatted this like an actual Marvel movie, so I wrote a Stan Lee cameo, a post credits scene and did the "______ Will Return" at the very end)





	1. Artistic Liberty

Everything seemed to be changing. He was different and Lita sensed trouble within him. Her relationship with Kaecilius, while unorthodox, seemed to be in danger once more. Not the danger of being exposed, but coming to an end.

He was cold, reserved. He spent most of his time in the library in the late hours and Lita’s training was not going as well as it had been.

“Your form is poor,” he warned, pinning Lita to the ground again. “Your focus is elsewhere and your fighting, my love, is just not up to my standards. I expect much more from you.”

“Maybe if I wasn’t up all night worrying about your whereabouts, we wouldn’t be in this position,  _ love.” _

Her fault in attitude as a student caught Kaecilius off guard and Lita took her chance. She used her legs to flip him over in the courtyard and straddle his abdomen, effectively pinning him to the stone.

“You were saying?” Lita asked, one eyebrow raised and her breathing heavy.

“It was still substandard. That was just you fighting dirty.”

“I do what I have to so I can survive. And sometimes that includes fighting dirty.”

Nobody was around except them. They often had to train in private due to the nature of their relationship and their combined power. While Lita was still considered a student, she had untapped potential. The Ancient One saw it and so did Kaecilius.

“Have you been practicing opening the mirror dimension?” he asked while Lita pulled him to his feet. She hadn’t. Between taking care of Luuk and finishing the rest of her studies, her practice with the mirror dimension was starting to be pushed aside. “If I recall, you were good at it a few months ago.”

Lita, who was easily flustered, felt her face flush when she remembered what had happened last time.

“Do you remember, my love?” Kaecilius asked, taking hold of Lita’s chin and running his thumb across her lower lip.

“I think we should practice and save any intimacy for after,” Lita responded, voice wavering a bit.

“You are a very good student, Miss Wexsler.”

“That’s because I have a very good teacher, Master Kaecilius.”

Lita turned her back to Kaecilius and nearly jumped when she felt his hands on her shoulders.

“You’re tense. You need to relax, love.”

Lita exhaled and leveled her breathing, putting all of her focus onto opening the mirror dimension.

“Kaecilius, your hand.” Despite her focus, Lita had noticed his hand drifting lower from her ribs and under the waistband of her leggings.

“Focus, love. Ignore me.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“Master Kaecilius. Miss Wexsler.” The Ancient One always sounded so stern and Lita jumped upon hearing her voice and Kaecilius took his hands off her. “I need to borrow Master Kaecilius for a few hours.”

“There’s a book in the library about opening the mirror dimension effectively. Go read it and I will find you later.”

“I’ll see you at home,” Lita replied, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his jaw. “And I do expect you to continue that little display, Master,” she added so only he could hear. Lita left the courtyard and went to the library, which was empty except for the librarian.

“Master Kaecilius told me to find a book on the mirror dimension. Would you know the one he meant?”

He handed her the book with no words and Lita went to one of the windowsills to read it.

It was so dry and Lita allowed her thoughts to wander. She had been on the same page for nearly an hour and a half when the librarian came to her side and warned Lita that she would need to go back to her quarters soon.

“Master Kaecilius said you could bring the book back to your quarters for the night, Miss Wexsler.”

“Thank you. I will return it in the morning or early afternoon.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Lita left and bumped into Kaecilius as he was entering.

“Good evening, Master Kaecilius. I found the book you recommended. It’s helpful but boring. Is there any way you could help me with my studies?” Lita asked, feigning innocence and looking up at him through her lashes.

“I have a plan, don’t worry.”

“Glad to hear it.” She sensed something was wrong. “Walk with me, sweetheart.”

They had always been a very affectionate pair. Kaecilius always had a hand somewhere on Lita and held her close to him. She craved contact and always leaned against his touch or had his hand in hers. As they walked, Lita had the book under one arm and her other interlocked with Kaecilius’.

“You seem upset. Stressed, really, but upset. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I trust you will keep this between us. I don’t trust the Ancient One. One being cannot have that much power without enlisting the darkness.”

He was right. Immortality, for the mystic arts, had extreme prices to pay and all involved utilizing the dark dimension.

“Do you know if she has been using the darkness for personal gain?”

“There is no other way to do it.”

“Then I believe you and I trust your judgement.”

Despite how soft he seemed when he kissed Lita, it held something darker and served to distract her from the presence of those he had met in secret.

Lita awoke at three in the morning with a start. It was cold in their quarters and the chill made her shiver. 

She quickly pulled on her robes and left their quarters before slipping on her boots. 

Lita knocked on the Ancient One’s door and waited anxiously outside.

“Miss Wexsler, it is very early. What troubles you?”

“I think I had a vision and I’m scared.”

They sat in silence while the Ancient One made tea and Lita couldn’t refrain from shaking her leg and scratching at her sling ring.

“What did you see?”

“I watched when I was nearly murdered again. But when the first bullet hit, it changed. It looked like a shard of glass and Kaecilius was the one who held it. Everything around us was in shambles and there was fire.”

“Miss Wexsler, has Master Kaecilius been acting strange lately?”

“Not that I've noticed. He’s been stressed since I’m close to graduating from my studies, but I haven’t noticed much else wrong.”

_ Liar. _

“Then perhaps it was just a nightmare about your accident before coming to Kamar-Taj. I will keep it in mind, though.”

“Thank you, Ancient One.”

Before Lita left, the Ancient One spoke again. “Kaecilius speaks very highly of you, Miss Wexsler. As a student and otherwise. He’s proud of your progress.”

Lita quickly walked back to her quarters and shed her clothes before climbing back into bed beside Kaecilius.

“Where did you go, love?”

“Go back to sleep, sweetheart.” Lita kissed his forehead before resting her head on his chest. “It isn’t important.”

She tried to convince herself of that fact. It wasn’t normal to see the man you loved kill you in a destroyed city.


	2. Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dream can't seem to leave Lita's subconscious so she does what she can to ignore it, also ignoring Kaecilius in the process.

_ It was too bright. Everything smelled of burning wood and metal, glass littered the streets and reflected the fires that burned around them. _

_ “You just need to trust me and I can help you, Kaecilius. Dormammu will not help you. It’s too dange-” Lita was cut short when she felt something hit her chest. It looked like a stake made of glass and the pain felt so dull. Blood started to soak through her robes and Lita felt her legs buckle. “Why?” she whispered, laying a hand against his cheek while Kaecilius supported her.  _

_ “I’m sorry, my love. I can’t have you in my way,” Kaecilius replied, lowering Lita to the pavement and rising back to his full height. _

Lita woke up in a panic and, upon seeing nobody around, began to cry. It was the same nightmare for nearly eight weeks. It came once, maybe twice, every week and Kaecilius was starting suspect something was wrong. Lita had flinched away from his touch recently and broken down when he asked about it. She still didn’t tell him.

With the lowered amount of intimacy, Lita had started focusing on her studies more and, with the Ancient One’s approval, was no longer a student of the mystic arts. She was a master, which meant she would now be a teacher. However, there weren’t many people to teach. Lita mostly spent her time showing Luuk some of the harmless tricks she could do.

She was sitting in the courtyard, making symbols in the air for Luuk when one of the other residents of Kamar-Taj ran up to her.

“Mistress Wexsler, Master Kaecilius has been looking for you.”

“Has he?” Lita rose to her feet and stood to face the young man.

“Yes, he says to come alone and meet him in the library.”

“Thank you, Wesley. Could you possibly take Luuk back to my quarters?”

“Yes, of course, Mistress.”

The library was completely empty when Lita entered. No librarian and no sound whatsoever. Only her breathing and the sound of her boots against the stone.

Kaecilius was nowhere to be seen so she walked through the aisles, looking for where he was.

“My love, you’ve seemed distant recently.” Lita jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.

“As though  _ you _ haven’t for nearly three months, Kaecilius?” Lita turned to face him. 

She was right and they both knew it. Truth be told, they had both been distant but for different reasons.

“Do you fear me, Lita?”

“No, Kaecilius. I’ve just had these horrible dreams about you lately.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Lita felt tears sting her eyes as Kaecilius stepped towards her.

“No.”

When he embraced her, Lita yelped, fearing he would actually hurt her.

“You know I would never hurt you, my love.” Lita stayed silent, burying her face against his chest and allowing herself to cry freely. “This version of me you’ve seen is not real.”

She looked up at him but kept her hold around his waist.

“I know but it still scares me. It’s been the same for nearly two months and I can’t close my eyes without seeing it again.”

Kaecilius held her face in his hands and wiped away any remaining tears.

“I will never hurt you. As long as we are together, harm will not come to you. By my hands or another’s.”

Lita believed him. She had been his student for so long that anything he said, she usually took as law. She entrusted herself to Kaecilius as a student and a lover and knew he would never betray that trust willingly.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted that,” Lita muttered, pulling him to her level and softly pressing her lips against his. “I’m so sorry.”

She believed him. Lita  _ knew _ Kaecilius would never hurt her. Even when he trained her when she had first arrived at Kamar-Taj, he had never actually hurt her.

 

***

 

_ “Miss Wexsler, you need to focus!” _

_ “You think I’m not trying?!” _

_ Her sudden outburst caught Kaecilius off guard. Lita was a very reserved student. She mostly read manuals and listened to methods while preferring to practice alone. She’d usually come back with questions or having made significant progress by herself. It was a bit perplexing that she made no progress while working with Kaecilius because she refused to do anything. _

_ Sparring, though, was unavoidable. She couldn’t read that in a book or receive a lecture from Kaecilius. _

_ “You will never know what to expect from your opponent. You have to be one step ahead.” _

_ Lita was only partially listening. Something about her master wearing a more athletic version of his usual robes was pleasing. He had the build of a dancer, similar to some of the men in Lita’s old company. _

_ “Are you listening to me, Miss Wexsler?” _

_ “Only partially.” _

_ On their last round, Kaecilius had ended up pinning Lita to the ground after knocking her off her feet. In a panic, she had grabbed his shoulders and, with the force of both of them falling, had ended up uncomfortably close to one another. Their first round had been worse. When Kaecilius took a swing in her direction, Lita had flinched and looked at him with nothing but fear in her eyes. When he realized this, Kaecilius had very quietly promised that he wouldn’t  _ actually  _ hurt her. It was only an exercise. _

_ “Miss Wexsler, I will not say this again. I am only training you because it was my assignment. Do you think I enjoy having a student who is stubborn and does absolutely nothing I tell her?” _

_ Lita was starting to get fed up and decided to take his advice and have her opponent be completely caught off guard. _

_ “Answer me, Miss Wexsler.” _

_ With no response, Lita conjured a weapon for herself and swung the whip, catching it around his leg and pulling. It was effective and put Kaecilius on the ground. _

_ “You were saying,  _ Master?”

_ He sat there, mouth open in shock and looked up at Lita. _

_ “I’m… impressed. You’ve been practicing.” _

_ “I’m not as bad of a student as you expect.” _

_ “Well done, Miss Wexsler.” _

_ “Thank you, Master Kaecilius.” She helped him to his feet and asked the question that had actually been on her mind. “Were you a dancer at one point?” _

_ “Many years ago. I heard that you are also trained.” _

_ “I can strangle someone with my legs alone if needed. I danced for twenty-four years before I came here.” _

_ “What happened?” _

_ “Walk with me and I’ll tell you.” _

_ They left the courtyard and made sure nobody was following before Lita spoke. _

_ “I was part of a professional dance troupe and our manager had taken an interest in me pretty early on. At first, it was just dinner but then that lead to him staying the night with me. I never went to his house, only my apartment. _

_ “Well, it turns out, he was married and his wife found out. She tracked me down to my apartment one of the nights he was with me and shot me four times. It ended my career and left me pretty fucked up. So, I heard about this place and thought it was a center for, like, advanced therapy or something. And that brings us to the point of you meeting me when I first got here.” _

_ Kaecilius stopped and stayed silent for a moment. Lita also stopped and turned to face him. _

_ “She shot you four times?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ “And that wasn’t the healing you needed when you arrived?” _

_ “No. The doctors did a great job on me and she was a bad shot. I needed help mentally.” _

_ There was something on his mind but he didn’t say it aloud, only continued walking. Lita followed closely behind. _

_ “I think you can be done for the day, Miss Wexsler. We will resume tomorrow. However, there is a book I am going to lend you from my personal collection and I want you to find me at dinner to discuss some of what you learned. No physical training, only mental.” _

_ “It’s a date.” She had meant it casually but immediately regretted her choice of words. “I meant it casually!” _

_ “I know what you truly meant, Miss Wexsler. Follow me.” _

_ He was onto her and her strange attraction to him. And he was secretly being a smug bastard about it. He walked with a smirk plastered on his face the entire time. When he handed Lita the book, he made a point to brush his hand against hers. _

I’m screwed.

 

***

 

Lita had locked herself in an empty room at Kamar-Taj and was practicing some more advanced techniques she had read about. She had to be alone because they could get dangerous and destroy anything surrounding the person using them. The most dangerous she had gotten was burning her hand.

It was the stress that caused her to have these problems. Between the repeated nightmare and her need for perfection, Lita wasn’t at her best for practice. She trusted Kaecilius, but not being able to get rid of the nightmare scared her.

“Alright, one more time,” she muttered, glancing over the text again and beginning to repeat the incantation and go through the hand gestures required for success.

There was a minor sting in her hands and a faint glow of red-orange light. Lita pushed her hands forward and projected a blast that shattered the lightbulbs in the room and the desk across from her.

The room was in complete darkness except the light coming through where the door was ajar.

“Was that right?” she asked herself, grabbing the book.

“How long have you been practicing that?” Kaecilius asked from the doorway.

“Three hours. I got bored and needed a way to get out some stress.”

There had been multiple reasons the Ancient One had assigned Kaecilius to Lita when she had arrived. Of course, she had sensed the initial interest they had in one another, but she also knew Lita would be powerful with practice. And after the rigorous training Kaecilius had put Lita through, it had been proven that Lita  _ was  _ a very powerful mystic artist. As long as she kept it under control, nobody would get hurt.


	3. Dark Desires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lita is starting to realize that everything she knows and loves could change in an instant, but she can always go with the new changes if she wants.  
> (Chapter gets a little steamy in the middle and pretty angsty towards the end)

“What a time to be alive,” Lita said in a complete monotone. She was on the phone with her brother, who was filling her in on something their mother had said.

“She brought up when you and your boyfriend came home to visit and asked when she was going to get another grandchild and also if you two were getting married anytime soon.”

“Why can’t she get on your ass about marriage? Kaecilius and I are happy with our arrangement.”

“Are you, though? Are you really?”

Lita paused for a moment. “Is Ma listening in?”

“No, she’s out of the house right now.”

“Kaecilius and I are engaged. Don’t tell anyone, but I thought you should know.”

It had always been very difficult to deal with their mother. Last time Lita had been in a relationship, she had been the other woman and that hadn’t gone over well with their mother when she found out. Of course, she had met Kaecilius a few times. Once when Lita brought him home with her to celebrate Hanukkah, another after Luuk was born and a third for her mother’s sixtieth birthday. That was about it. It was weird having her boyfriend, who was already much older  _ and  _ the father of her child, around her family.

“Lita, that’s great! Fuckin’ took you two long enough, though.”

She wasn’t ashamed of being with Kaecilius in the slightest, but something about her parents making a big deal out of their age difference and the fact that they already had a kid without being married made her anxious to bring him around or even talk about him in front of them. It just felt wrong around them. They had asked too many questions the first time they met, but Kaecilius seemed to stay cool under pressure. Lita had also made some very specific and… _ interesting  _ promises if he could keep it together for the first night of Hanukkah. They had spent the two weeks leading up to the holiday on education. Lita had to teach a very Christian, she wasn’t sure what brand, Kaecilius all about the holidays she celebrated and the background of it. Some of which he had already known.

“Thanks for what seems like support but also seems like criticism, Andrew. Makes me feel  _ great.”  _

“Nothing but the best for the baby of the family.”

“Alright, I have to go teach now, so I’ll talk to you later.”

There was finally someone the Ancient One was allowing Lita to train. Word had gotten out about her energy blast incident, which had destroyed the wiring and lights in two rooms on either side of the one she used for practice, so Lita was now sought after by some higher level students who wanted to learn how to do the same. She was also allowed to help train students in sparring since she could put up a pretty good fight against anyone. Many of her opponents were larger than she was, so every match was fair.

“If you do it right, the blast will be powerful enough to cause physical damage to anyone in the direct line of your projection and destroy any small objects within a 200 foot radius.”

The student didn’t seem to believe Lita’s observations.

“It says in the book that the damage will only have an effect on things in a smaller radius than that.”

“If you have a relic that amplifies your power, it will have about what I said. If not, follow the book.”

Lita’s estimate was about half of what she did in the book. The relic that selected her had been a heavy necklace that amplified most spells to about twice their power. It had originally been just a charm for the original owner but someone had turned it into jewelry between that and Lita having it.

“I was asking Master Kaecilius about it earlier and he told me you damaged five rooms in one of the corridors.”

“I did.”

“How was he left unscathed?”

“He wasn’t in the line of my blast.”

This student seemed to take more interest in Kaecilius than she did in Lita’s lesson. She knew he had a following of students, but this wasn’t what she had expected. They seemed to idolize him. It was disconcerting.

Lita was watching Kaecilius walk around their quarters that evening. Of course, she had a different relationship with him than the students, but she wanted to see why he was considered such a top tier teacher. He was really good but this was just odd.

“You’re staring, my love. What is it?”

“The students seem to idolize you.”

“Oh?”

“I was practicing with a girl earlier and she kept asking me about your abilities.”

He paused and sat beside Lita on the bed.

“Every student likes a different master more. I have many students who ask about you and your abilities. Everyone has their preference.”

“Ok, I’ll accept that answer.”

There was something about how interested certain students were that was strange. It was similar to how some students accepted whatever the Ancient One said as law with no questions. However, Lita pushed those thoughts off to the side and turned to Kaecilius.

“Y’know, Shay isn’t bringing Luuk back for another,” Lita checked the time on her phone, “Twenty minutes or so. We could always make up for some lost time while I was finishing my training.”

There was barely time for either of them to process their actions before Kaecilius had Lita pinned to their bed.

“You need to be quick,” Lita reminded him as he kissed and bit her neck and jaw. She was fumbling with all of the clasps and ties on his robes, trying to get him out of the garment. The robes were far too complicated for the situation but she managed to get them open before moving to her own.

The moment she got them open, Kaecilius was already moving down her torso, feeling every inch of skin he could reach.

“Are you sure you’d still like to do this?”

Lita checked the time again.

“Five minutes. Let’s do this. We can always finish later.”

He pressed a kiss to her hip bone when someone knocked on the door.

“Shit, they must be back early,” Lita muttered as he sat up between her legs.

They knocked again and Lita got out of bed, pulling on a silk robe to answer the door.

“Sorry I came back without warning. He’s asleep so I was just walking really slowly to not wake him,” Shay explained quietly, handing Luuk over to Lita.

“Thank you, Shay.”

Lita silently closed the door and headed off to the small room adjoining their quarters to put him to bed.

Now that they had to be quiet, since Luuk was a very temperamental sleeper, Lita and Kaecilius were just lying together, holding one another close and talking.

There was something about this affection that wasn’t normal.

Kaecilius hadn’t told Lita his exact plans or about the students who were following him.

When she was finally asleep, he pressed a kiss to her temple and left a note on the nightstand to explain what he planned and where to find him.

Lita woke up with a start and felt cold. He was gone. She slipped out of bed and looked around their quarters in case he was doing a sleepless study session. Nothing. This was scaring her.

Lita looked around for anything that may have hinted at him still being around. Clothing, his knives,  _ anything,  _ but nothing came up. However, she did find a letter with her name on the envelope. She could barely manage to open it without shaking. Even though he explained where she could find him, Lita still broke when she finished reading.

Kaecilius had left to pursue something completely crazy. He had left her, their son and everything they had together at Kamar-Taj.

Lita got dressed and didn’t even bother checking her reflection before leaving.

“Mistress Wexsler, it’s very early. What are you doing up?” Mordo asked, coming up beside Lita.

“He’s gone. He left, Karl. Kaecilius left and I don’t know where he is!”

“It’s worse than that. The Ancient One will probably want to tell you. Come with me.”

She did know where he was going. Where to meet him if she so pleased. If she planned to follow him in his mission, Lita would find him in London in two months.

And nothing would stop her from doing so.

She was cold to anyone who tried showing her sympathy. She didn’t need the pity of anyone. The Ancient One had suggested she send Luuk to stay with family until this was resolved. Lita dropped him off with her brother, briefly explaining part of the situation.

“How are you?” the Ancient One asked while sitting beside Lita.

“I’m fine.”

“You just lost everything, Lita, I understand if you need to spe-”

“I said I was fine.”

The subject was dropped and Lita took her leave, not wanting to get into another conversation with the Ancient One about dealing with loss. This wasn’t loss. It was a temporary separation before they could be reunited. And they would be unstoppable then.


	4. Unsolicited Opinions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newcomer at Kamar-Taj is less than satisfactory in both attitude and performance. Everyone seems to think he's like Kaecilius, but others have a different opinion of him.

If Lita had ever hated anyone more than the man who just came in with Mordo, she couldn’t remember. He was arrogant, she could tell by the way he came in and kept correcting the things people said. He wasn’t “Mister Strange,” he was “ _ Doctor.”  _

Lita stood off to the side, silently observing, as he spoke with the Ancient One and assumed they were an experimental medical facility.

“Have you seen that in a gift shop, Mister Strange?”

Lita smirked from her sideline view.

He begged to be taught after the Ancient One showed him her power. She refused and he was thrown out.

“I think you made the right choice denying him,” Lita said suddenly. “He’s arrogant and disrespectful. Did you hear the way he spoke about the things you told him?”

“I disagree,” Mordo countered. “I think we should give him a chance. The last time you had a student like that, he rose to be a powerful mystic artist.”

“I can’t risk having another student or master do what Kaecilius and his followers did.”

Lita gave her a short sideways glare as they continued walking.

“I think we should send him home. He’s already proved that he thinks what we do is a joke.”

“Thank you, Mistress Wexsler, but I’ll decide for myself.”

“Ultimately, the decision is up to you. I appreciate you consulting me, Ancient One.” Lita gave a strained smile and turned, walking to the library. She needed to see if there was a way to track someone. She would be leaving much earlier to meet Kaecilius if this “Strange” man ended up studying at Kamar-Taj. What a ridiculous name. Doctor Strange? What was it? A  _ stage name?! _

Now, she could always call Kaecilius but tracking him would help get her an exact location to make her gateway immediately.

No, that was too complicated. She would just call if Strange didn’t get kicked out within a few days.

 

***

 

“I can’t do it.”

“Not with that attitude. Try again,” Lita ordered. She was sitting with her legs crossed on a bench while Strange tried doing basic magic. “Your form is bad and you aren’t trying.”

“How would you know?! You aren’t even watching!” Strange snapped. “You’re just reading that book!”

“You do realize that I can still see you in my peripheral, correct? Your form is bad so fix it and try again.”

That shut him up. Lita closed her book and watched closely. Nothing.

“Clear your mind and focus, Stephen.” Still nothing. “You’re beyond my help. I’ll send you to the Ancient One and Mordo. They seem to be leaning in your favor. You were let in because of their joint decision. If it had been up to me, we would’ve let someone less arrogant in. Focus more on what you’re supposed to do and not what you think you can’t, Mister Strange.”

“It’s Doctor,” he corrected. Lita stopped bouncing her top leg and stood, hands on her hips, glaring up at Stephen.

“If you correct me one more  _ fucking time _ , Strange-”

“Mistress Wexsler, I think I’ll take over Strange’s training for now,” Mordo said, suddenly entering the courtyard.

“Fine.” Lita turned on her heel and left the courtyard without another glance back.

“What’s her problem?” Strange asked.

“Lita lost the man she loved the most to darkness and it's only been a week. She’s not coping well.”

Lita slammed the door to her quarters and called the only person she wanted to talk to.

“You shouldn’t be doing this, Lita.”

“I know, but I can’t stand it here anymore. I need to come with you as soon as possible.”

“Give me two days, love, and I’ll find a place for us to meet.”

“Deal.”

Two days before she could leave the place she once loved. There was nobody here who truly appreciated her. It seemed that people valued her opinion less now that Kaecilius wasn’t around. She was high ranking, but nobody seemed to care.

The next afternoon was more eventful than expected.

The Ancient One had seemed to have grown weary of Strange’s pessimism, so she took him to the peak of Everest and left him to figure it out.

“He’s going to die if he can’t do it,” Lita muttered as she stood beside Mordo and the Ancient One, waiting for him to make a gateway.

He somehow managed and fell at their feet, hair laced with snow and ice and shaking.

“Congratulations on not dying. Let’s see if you can actually manage the rest of your training,” Lita told him the following morning. He looked less scruffy after giving himself a haircut and shaving. Less dirty.

“I know you’re  _ trying  _ to be nice, but you still come across as a bitch, Mistress Wexsler.”

“It’s all part of my charm. You can’t be at the top without fighting for it, Strange. And I’m not trying to be nice.”

“This could be why people don’t seem to like you around here very much.” Lita stopped walking away and turned to face Strange. “Apparently when you say you’re training with Mistress Lita Wexsler, people seem to pity you. Are you just  _ that  _ unpleasant to be around with everyone?”

Lita said nothing in response, only muttering an incantation and going through the proper hand motions before pushing forward and sending out a small energy blast. The force knocked Strange to the ground and Lita walked over, bending down to make eye contact with him and grabbing his jaw. 

“Darling, I don’t know where you’ve heard any of this, but you’re wrong. I’m fucking  _ adored _ here. And by the way, Mister Strange, I’m only unpleasant with you because I hate you. We could’ve let in anyone else but the Ancient One chose you after you blatantly disrespected our art. You’re not interesting for being this way, in case you weren’t already aware of that.”

Lita rose to her full height and walked away.

When she entered her quarters, it was a shock to see Kaecilius standing beside the kitchen table waiting for her. There was a symbol burned into his forehead. It must have been from whatever ritual he performed.

Lita didn’t even think twice before rushing into his arms and holding Kaecilius as though it had been months.

“We have much to discuss, Lita.”

“You’re damn right, Kaecilius! A little warning would’ve been nice but at least you didn’t leave me permanently.”

“Come with me, love. We can talk tonight.”

“I want to do a lot more than talk.”

“And that can be arranged.”


	5. A Moment of Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistress Wexler is starting to realize that perhaps her decision to leave Kamar-Taj was not as noble as she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was informed by my sibling that I had misspelled Wexler by adding an S because I originally misread it. This will be fixed moving forward.

“So you think that the Ancient One draws her power from the Dark Dimension?” Lita asked, lying beside Kaecilius as he was gently stroking her hair. It had been a few weeks since she left with him. The first night had been like old times. He told her what the plan was and they had eventually sneaked off to have sex in the only private place available. The Mirror Dimension.

This information, however, was new. Lita had never fathomed that the Ancient One would use the dark arts after seeming so strongly against it.

“Nobody can have that much power and draw it from something besides darkness. There is no other explanation, Lita.”

She trusted his judgement and knew Kaecilius was right. She had read everywhere that the only place to get that much power was the Dark Dimension. Of course, he was doing the same but he was actually honest about it. Neither was in the right, but at least one didn’t lie about what they had done.

“You seemed upset when I came for you. What happened?”

“I had a disagreement with a student. He’s arrogant and a horrible man. I told the Ancient One to turn him away but she didn’t listen to me. He disrespected all of the mystic arts and aspects of many cultures.”

“This student is new?”

“Yes.”

Kaecilius had also been an arrogant student. The Ancient One hadn’t turned him away, pitying the sad and broken man before her. She had trained him and he began to question everything presented to him. Every lesson she gave was picked apart in his spare time. But the mystic arts had still healed Kaecilius of the tragedy that befell him and his family.

When Lita had arrived, he didn’t want to be the master stuck training her. However, everyone insisted they would pair well together and he ended up taking her to the library that evening so she could start reading about basics of the mystic arts and learning Sanskrit.

Kaecilius had thought she was vain and a bit arrogant. Lita was late to lessons so she could get ready and never did anything. It annoyed him to no end but he worked with it. She improved wonderfully each day despite her refusals and slowly began to develop a less formal relationship with Kaecilius.

Of course that relationship seemed to move much faster than any normal one would. Possibly because both of them had been hurt and lost in their past relationships. And that quick progression resulted in one of the biggest accidents of Lita’s life. But she didn’t regret this one. Luuk has not been something they planned. Especially four months into their relationship and Lita was so much younger than Kaecilius.

It was met by disapproval by a few other masters and many of the students. The former librarian had reported them early on to the Ancient One. And when others found out Lita was pregnant, they had expressed disapproval. Neither of them  _ seemed _ to care that much. Which wasn’t actually the case. Lita had been incredibly upset after hearing what some of the other residents of Kamar-Taj had said about them.

Eventually people had come around and respected them both separately and as a couple. They still had a few who disapproved, but they were also happy with one another so it didn’t really matter.

They were all laying low the next morning. Lita sat beside Kaecilius, trying to pull her hair back into its usual style with intricate twists and braids, but couldn’t keep her hands from shaking to do it. She was afraid someone would find them. That they’d all be punished for rebelling against the Sorcerer Supreme. 

“Let me help you, love.” Kaecilius shifted to sit on the step behind Lita to finish the work she had started.

“Someone is coming,” one of the others said, coming into the room with them.

“I see no disturbance in the astral plane. Come with me,” Lita told Kaecilius, opening the mirror dimension and pulling him inside with her.

There could be no risk of them being caught here. It was an old building in London that was only frequented by shady kids and cops to catch them.

It was a group of teenagers trying to do whatever they wanted without their parents knowing. They were off in their own world when the others were about to make their exit. They had to find somewhere else to stay.

“Follow me,” Kaecilius told Lita, grabbing her hand and leading her back into the real world silently. She closed the mirror dimension’s opening and tried to follow as quickly and quietly as possible.

They made it to the neighboring room without being detected and found the others. They had all congregated in the adjoining room to allow Lita and Kaecilius privacy.

“We need to find somewhere new. This building is no longer safe for us. With the teenagers and law enforcement dropping in constantly, we run too high of a risk of being caught.”

Nobody had any ideas of where they could go. They had plans for London and they were as close as they could be to the location without raising suspicion.

There were plenty of churches nearby, though.

Lita had been told to wait outside the chapel. The church was… Catholic, maybe. She didn’t know for sure. She only knew she wasn’t allowed to be in on the ritual performed inside. Kaecilius didn’t want her pledging herself to Dormammu. Not yet.

The others had said things about her, though, that she didn’t like.

“Mistress Wexler has too pretty of a face to perform the rituals. And we can’t risk losing that.”

On one hand, she was furious. On the other, Lita had to remain calm and not cause trouble with the others. She chose to be angry silently and alone outside the chapel. She wasn’t comfortable in the church, sensing that something was going on in the next room.

That’s when she hit a realization she didn’t want to have.

Why had she  _ really  _ left with Kaecilius? She knew it was because of her feud with Stephen Strange but refused to admit that fact. Even to herself. She kept saying it was to support Kaecilius, the love of her life. The only man who had ever loved her.

She knew she was wrong, but used her excuse as a comfort to get rid of the guilt of what she was doing.

And with enough concentration, all the bad feelings had been pushed aside to allow her ease.

Lita jumped to her feet when Kaecilius came out to see her.

“We must go. We have something else to do, my love.”

“Where are we going?”

“The London Sanctum.”

“Let’s go then.”


	6. No Longer Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some plans should be disclosed with one another in full. Lita and Kaecilius, however, can't seem to understand that

What she hadn’t expected was for them to destroy the London Sanctum.

She had seen Strange through the door to Kamar-Taj. He had something around his neck. It was familiar but Lita couldn’t place it in time.

They got out of there in a hurry and headed to their next destination. In their quest to destroy Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One, they had to take down each Sanctum Sanctorum one at a time.

“I’ll take the corridor by the entrance to Kamar-Taj. In case anyone came through,” Lita told Kaecilius, creating her own gateway. “You can’t have all the fun, Master Kaecilius.”

And now they were face to face.

“Hello, Mister Strange.”

“Mistress Wexler. What has it been? Two minutes?”

He didn’t give her time to reply before running down one of the corridors. Lita pursued after a few seconds of shock. He was headed towards a dead end and she waited around for him to turn around.

It was, honestly, a thrill. Hunting down a former student through the New York Sanctum.

She could hear him coming back down the hall and, when he got close enough, Lita grabbed the front of Stephen’s robes and tried to get him on the ground. What she hadn’t counted on was the fact that Stephen was much larger than her and only ended up pinning her to the ground.

“Hello again, Mistress Wexler.”

“Mister-”

“Doctor,” he corrected.

“Strange.  _ Mister _ Strange.”

Lita started to attempt making a weapon, but Stephen noticed and grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.

“You’ve meddled with something you should’ve left alone, Stephen.” She knew using his first name would get a response. “And if you want me to  _ consider _ sparing you, let me go.”

Now, the relationship they had at Kamar-Taj had been tense due to Lita thinking he was a threat and Stephen’s odd attraction to her but this... this was different. Although, he hadn’t quite expressed his attraction in a healthy way, insulting her more than a few times. 

For some reason, “evil” was a good look for Mistress Wexler and she knew she looked good. And of course she used it to her advantage. 

“I was just beginning to like you, Mister Strange. It’s such a shame that I have to kill you.”

Stephen snapped out of his minor trance when Lita spoke and released her, jumping up to run. Lita was faster and conjured a glowing whip, using it to grab his ankle and pull Stephen back to the ground.

“Nice try, Stephen,” Lita said, rising to her feet and keeping her hold on him as she walked closer. “But I’m not the one you need to fear. The one you will truly fear is Kaecilius. I’m only the first threat.” She released him and summoned a gateway that lead to the foyer of the Sanctum. Before stepping through, she said, “And, by the way, don’t think I didn’t notice the effect I have on you. Bye, Strange!”

And with that, she was gone.

“Handle everything?” Kaecilius asked.

“I did what I could.” She looked past him and at the others trying to take down the guardian of the Sanctum.

“Do not get involved in this fight.”

“I’m saving my energy. For him,” Lita replied, seeing Strange appear at the top of the stairs. “I will need one of your knives, love.”

Kaecilius handed Lita one of the knives he carried.

She only stood by, squeezing her eyes shut, as he delivered the final blow to the former master of the New York Sanctum.

He turned his attention to Strange and all hell had broken loose.

Strange was trying to get away and everyone was trying to get to him. Everything would be so much easier with him dead.

She heard the breaking glass and furniture before a momentary silence.

It was done. He was gone.

Lita sighed in annoyance when she saw him run by again. That meant… No. the others couldn’t be dead, could they?

She ran up the stairs and followed the sounds of even more things breaking.

The room full of relics was a mess but she found them. Well, she found Kaecilius and Strange. The others were nowhere to be seen.

The cloak in one of the broken cases had taken a liking to Strange, protecting him from any of Kaecilius’ hits.

Things were no longer in their favor, it seemed. The cloak had chosen Strange and continued to protect him from any harm. Even when he was thrown down the stairs.

This, however, was interesting. While he ran towards a selection of weapons on the wall, it pulled against him.

“What a shame, Mister Strange,” Lita said, walking freely to the wall with the battle axe on it. “Is this what you want to use?”

The device he threw onto Kaecilius was some sort of restraint.

_ Fuck. _

This wasn’t going the way they wanted. Lita ran to find one of the others downstairs.

“Mistress Wexler, what is it?”

“Wesley, he has Kaecilius trapped. Under the circumstances, you have different powers than I do and I need you to utilize them.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you,” Lita said, kissing him on the cheek and running to find the other three.

They were nowhere to be found in the Sanctum.

Then again, Lita hadn’t been here many times and was lost.

“Damn it!”

She made a gateway to where Kaecilius had been.

“I had Wesley take care of it.”

“Thank you, love. Do you know how to get me out of this restraint?”

Lita walked around him and examined the contraption.

“I have gotten myself out of more difficult things, so I can figure it out.”

Lita made a few gestures and snapped, closing her eyes before hearing the restraints fall to the ground.

“We must go. Downstairs, now!”

Kaecilius started heading down to the foyer and Lita followed.

“Oh my god, is that blood?!” she asked, slipping in the hallway.

Nobody answered, but she knew it was. She had a feeling Strange wouldn’t make it out of this alive.

But when she heard him speak and the Ancient One’s voice, all hope was lost.

“Three more. One’s dead in the hallway. Mistress Wexler is there but she doesn’t seem to have their power.”

“You need to work fast,” Lita warned.

The moment the others had gotten the spell to work, they were locked in the mirror dimension.

“Who’s laughing now, asshole?”

“Me.”

Lita immediately followed when Strange and Mordo ran out.

The only issue was that the mirror dimension had taken effect over all of Manhattan. Everything kept shifting at Kaecilius’ will and it was sickening.

It was like that painting of the stairs or that one scene at the end of Labyrinth where everything was upside-down or sideways.

It seemed that not pledging herself to Dormammu had made Lita seem weak compared to the others.

Finally, a flat surface. The circular floor was to serve as some sort of battlefield for Kaecilius and the Ancient One. The others were only there to watch.

He had been right. She used the Dark Dimension for her power and immortality.

“Hypocrite,” Lita muttered, out of breath.

Shay, one of the women fighting with them, kept a hand on Lita’s shoulder, keeping her steady and from doing anything foolish.

“Let me fight, Shay.”

“No. Kaecilius will have our hides if you get hurt. And I’m not letting your son grow up without you.”

Lita actually screamed when Kaecilius stabbed through one of his followers to get the Ancient One.

The prophecy of her own death flashed through her mind as he sent her through the gateway. Strange and Mordo followed.

Lita stayed frozen, mouth open in shock and horror.

“What have you done, Kaecilius?”

He held Lita’s face, forcing her to look up at him.

“I did what should have happened long ago, love.”

They stood there for a few moments before Lita decided to speak.

“I will stop them.” She leaned up slightly and kissed Kaecilius for what could be the last time. “I’m going to kill Stephen Strange. I love you.”


	7. Artificial Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaving may have been hard, but getting Stephen Strange to trust her will be far easier after some past observations Lita made. Another, however, will set all of her plans of redemption back a few steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a Stan Lee cameo in this chapter. Because how could you write a Marvel fic without one?

Lita was lost. Her gateway hadn’t opened in the correct area and she needed to get back to the Sanctum.

“Excuse me, sir, do you know how I can get from Bleecker Street from here?” Lita asked the old man feeding pigeons nearby.

He gave some complicated directions that made no sense and Lita rolled her eyes.

“Thanks, I’ll just get lost and murdered!”

“Just make a gateway!” he called as Lita tried running down the street, maneuvering through the crowd.

She cut into an alleyway and opened a gateway into the relics room.

The Sanctum was in ruins inside. She knew they would come back here.

She hadn’t planned on Mordo being there already. She walked down the stairs and stood behind him.

“Karl?”

“Lita, what are you doing here?”

“I can’t fight alongside Kaecilius any longer. He has become too reckless.”

She sounded so soft and scared. There were tears welling in her eyes as she spoke.

Someone moved deep in the Sanctum. They both stood ready to attack if needed.

“Nobody followed you, correct?” Mordo asked Lita.

“No.”

It was Strange.

“She’s dead.”

Lita closed her eyes and took a step back.

“What are you doing here, Mistress Wexler?” She flinched at the sound of his voice and stumbled backwards when Stephen stepped closer to her. “You helped kill her? I’m not giving you sympathy after you’ve realized the mistakes you’ve made.”

“I don’t need your sympathy, Strange! I know damn well what I did wrong! I’m here to help you. I know what Kaecilius is going to do to me because of it, but I’m willing to take that risk if it means he doesn’t unleash Dormammu.”

Everything was eerily still. Lita explained the nightmare she’d been having for months on end.

“I didn’t mean to talk like tha-” Lita slapped Stephen’s cheek before he could finish speaking.

“I don’t need an apology. I just need your trust.”

“How can I trust you when you’ve tried killing me multiple times since we’ve met?”

Lita exhaled heavily and pulled Strange to her level by the collar of his cloak, pressing her lips to his.

“Let’s get to Hong Kong before Kaecilius destroys everything, ok?”

While they walked, Strange had a smirk plastered on his face and Lita felt disgusted with herself.

Hong Kong was already in shambles when they arrived. The Sanctum was charred and burning. There was chaos in the streets, fires burning, broken glass. All the screams sounded so distant.

“Kaecilius!”

He turned to face Lita, who stood at Strange’s side. She stepped forward, meeting him in the middle.

“You lied to me.”

“No, sweetheart, I would never.”

“Then why isn’t he dead, Lita?”

“I’ve brought him to you. I thought you’d be happy.”

“No.”

Lita bowed her head and looked to the side.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Master.”

“I entrust you with a simple task, love, and you  _ still _ need my help?”

She had to change the subject.

“I need you. You have to come back to Kamar-Taj with me. Please, Kaecilius.”

“After all this, you want to go back there? You left them to join me and then just want to _go_ _back_ to them, Lita?”

_ “ _ You just need to trust me and I can help you, darling. Dormammu will not help you. It’s too dange-” Lita was cut short when she felt something hit her chest. It looked like a stake made of glass and the pain felt so dull. Blood started to soak through her robes and Lita felt her legs buckle. She felt warm and numb. She had one arm hooked behind his neck and one of his rested on the small of her back.

“Why?” she whispered, laying a hand against his cheek while Kaecilius supported her. She barely felt him kiss her forehead as her eyes glazed over.

“I’m sorry, my love. I can’t have you in my way,” Kaecilius replied, lowering Lita to the pavement and rising back to his full height.

Mistress Lita Wexler laid dead on the streets of Hong Kong while her allies fought Kaecilius nearby.

Strange stood, using the Eye of Agamotto to reverse the damage already done.


	8. Warning Label

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is back in order, but Lita's having a hard time adjusting to change.

As everything began reversing, Lita’s hand twitched. The bloodstain on her chest shrank and she stood beside Strange and Mordo once again. Wong also stood among them.

“You’ve tampered with something you shouldn’t have,” Lita told Strange. “But thank you. For not leaving me dead on the sidewalk.”

“No problem.”

Everything else was still trying to fix itself while they fought. Lita had tracked down Shay and was trying to get her angle of attack just right. The stalling, of course, earned Lita multiple strikes. One leaving a cut on her lip and across the bridge of her nose.

She felt the familiar tingling in her palms and pushed forward, sending an energy blast at her student, which launched her down the street.

“Nice try, bitch, but I’m still more powerful,” Lita said, wiping her bleeding lip and blowing some hair out of her face. “Any ideas to stop them?”

Before Strange could actually respond, he was hit and sent to the ground.

“Strange, get up,” Mordo urged.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity.

When he finally did return, they had to watch as the warnings, which came  _ after  _ the spells and rituals, came to fruition. Kaecilius and his remaining two followers would be given to Dormammu for an eternity.

“You should really read the warnings. They come after the spells,” Strange said. It made Wong laugh, which was a rare sound.

The Sanctum was safe and repaired itself. Everything was back to normal in Hong Kong.

Lita began opening a gateway away from the others.

“Mistress Wexler!” Mordo called, making Lita pause in her movements. “Come back to Kamar-Taj. A medic should look at those cuts.”

Lita turned to them.

“Doctor, would you be willing to check them for me?”

This caught Strange off guard.

“Definitely.”

“Return the eye, though. That thing’s too powerful for you.”

 

***

 

Lita sat on the main stairs of the New York Sanctum.

She had been given an offer from Wong and Strange. She could remain in practice, but only if under close surveillance of another mystic artist.

“Deal. But I’m not anyone’s subordinate.”

“Sure. We’ll go with that,” Wong replied. “Your brother called. He’s wondering when you’ll come get Luuk.”

Lita made a gateway and stepped through, into her brother’s kitchen.

“Wow, you look like you’ve been to hell and back,” Andrew said, seeing his sister’s face.

“Pretty close.”

“You’ll have to tell me about it soon.” He seemed to know something was wrong. “Luuk! Come see who showed up!”

“Mommy!” 

Lita crouched down and caught Luuk when he ran into her arms. She kissed his head and held him, willing tears away from her eyes.

“I got a new place for us to live in. Come on. I’ll make you dinner.”

Lita stepped back through her gateway, holding Luuk’s hand and closed it.

She wasn’t sure how she’d explain his father’s death but that would come with time. So would her healing process.

On her nightstand in the Sanctum sat two pictures.

One of Lita, Kaecilius and Luuk when they went to her family’s house last winter for Hanukkah and the other of Lita and Kaecilius when they had gotten engaged.

They had looked so normal that day. They felt normal.

_ “If you slip on the ice, you’re gonna bring me down with you!” _

_ It had been early February and there was still snow and ice on the ground. They didn’t even know why they chose to come to Manhattan today. It was cold and windy. Not pleasant for a walk in any way. _

_ “If I fall, love, I’ll need your he-” Kaecilius somehow managed to slip at that moment and Lita stood in shock for a second as he lay in the snow bank. She laughed and reached down to help him, but also lost her footing. Lita was still laughing at the situation when she fell. _

_ “This is justice for you laughing at me.” _

_ “Probably what I deserve.” _

_ Lita leaned down and pressed a kiss to Kaecilius’ nose. _

_ “Will you marry me?” _

_ “What?” _

_ “Will you, Lita Wexler, marry me?” _

_ “Of course I will.” _

Gone we’re the sweet moments they’d shared for four years. Gone were all the secret meetings they had in the dead of night when one of them should’ve been working or they couldn’t sleep.

And Lita had no idea what she was going to do from now on without Kaecilius.


	9. Post Credits Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lita meets someone interesting and learns something even more interesting.  
> (I'm really formatting this like a Marvel movie)

“Who is this Thanos and what does he want with us?” Lita asked the woman before her. She was of an extraterrestrial species known as the Kree.

“He wants your planet and all six Infinity Stones. Along with the entire universe.”

Lita looked between her and the seemingly human woman who claimed to be the goddess of death.

“So why are you two here? What does this guy have to do with either of you?”

“I have a vendetta against him,” the Kree woman explained. “You see, Thanos is my grandfather and sworn enemy. My wife and I wish to help protect this planet from him.”

“Why would a member of the Kree and a goddess want to protect Earth?”

“My mother is of Terra.”

“And what’s your name again?”

“Captain Accuser.”

“A real name?”

“Jaylah. Jaylah the Accuser of the planet Hala.”

“Welcome to the team, Captain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mistress Lita Wexler Will Return


End file.
